


A Spark of Hope

by Narina



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic
Genre: Bothan Trooper, F/M, but it is precious, following the storyline though not word by word, her assault cannon certainly has no name
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-12
Updated: 2018-01-18
Packaged: 2018-09-23 16:13:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9665099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Narina/pseuds/Narina
Summary: Being assigned to Havoc Squad is an honor. Having to deal with the consequences is hard. Finding out what kind of hero you'll be is even harder.





	1. Chapter 1

They sent her from the academy straight into a warzone. Korol wasn’t sure if that was the usual procedure, but she wasn’t going to complain. Some action could only brighten her mood after spending a few weeks with bureaucracy. Everything was perfect until their transport was blasted. She wasn’t hurt, her Assault Cannon was fine and Gearbox, her new teammate, said he was trying to fix things. All in all, this could’ve gone worse and she was happy to oblige when he told her to take care of the rocket launchers. 

The separatists put up a good fight, but in the end, they didn’t stand a chance against her weapon. She had gotten it because everyone had said she couldn’t. Now, she preferred it over any blaster. “All taken care of,” she told Gearbox when he reported that there wasn’t much to do on his side. “How do we proceed?”

“Go to the fort,” he instructed. “Commander Tavus will know what to do. I will try and catch up.”

There was no way she could miss the fort. It was on top of a hill, well protected with thick walls to keep enemies out. She had seen more impressive forts, but for a planet like Ord Mantell, this was top quality. They let her in, eyeing her Havoc Squad armour and whispering to each other. 

“Ah, Sergeant,” she was greeted after a brief encounter with a private from another unit. He was hiding something, feeling uneasy about his problems, but she didn’t press on. If he wanted to talk about it, he’d find someone. “I’m Commander Tavus,” he introduced himself. “Meet the rest of your team.” She saluted and gave the others a small nod. There was a Mirialan, the only woman beside herself, called Wraith. Needles, a scrawny human male, gave her a bad vibe from the start on. She hoped that would get better. In fact, the only person she really liked was Fuse, a Zabrak who looked a little lost among the other soldiers. 

“It’s a pleasure,” she said. 

“Enough of this,” someone interfered. A Cathar, not Havoc Squad but, judging by the looks, the base’s commander. “Aric Jorgan.” He gave her a small nod. “We have work to do. An informant has to be met.”

“That’s a job for our Sergeant here.” Tavus looked directly at her and she felt a little strange, being smaller than everyone else. She thought she’d gotten used to that by now, but now she was in a new environment with new people. 

“Yes, Sir.” She saluted again, received the necessary data and set off. On foot, because this backwater planet didn’t really have a lot of speeders available. The beaches could’ve been pretty nice under different circumstances. Now, they were littered with corpses and scrap metal and the evening sun didn’t help at all. She really understood everyone wanting to leave this place. 

When she found the contact – or what was left of him – she let out a few curses the academy had tried to make her forget. This was not how she had planned to spend her day. “Commander?” She hid in a doorway, watching separatists and waiting for an answer. 

“You team is busy,” Jorgan informed her, sounding as grumpy as before. She sighed. What had she ever done to him? He didn’t seem as bad as other people around, why couldn’t he be the one to want her attention. “What did you find.”

“Our contact is dead in the streets. What do you want me to do?”

He was silent for a moment. “How did that happen?”

“How should I know? It’s not like I told him to come out and get himself shot.”

“You couldn’t have been there earlier? With a lighter weapon?”

Korol frowned and kept herself from pouting. She wasn’t going to show such faces while on holo with Jorgan. “Let me show you how fast I can walk with my weapon.”

He ignored that. “Find his wife. She should have his files stashed away. Bring them to the base.”

“Got it, Sir.” She ended the call before he found any other reasons to be unhappy with her or her manners. He did send her the wife’s address and Korol was surprised that she actually managed to talk the grieving woman into giving up on of her husband’s possessions. 

Darkness didn’t really fall over the planet, the air was filled with rockets and lights and she had no trouble finding her way back. Maybe they had sent her into a warzone, but it wasn’t like she got to fight a lot. This looked an awful lot like careful diplomacy and secrecy and she really hoped that would change over the next few weeks. Or months. However long this assignment would take.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another pretty short chapter. I'm not sure if the others will be much longer, at least not at first. For now, I'm just trying to show Korol's life during the Trooper story, the interesting part is yet to come.

Her time on Ord Mantell wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been. She talked to some other recruits who were even less experienced than she was. She exposed a man exploiting her troops after being approached by that private again. She managed to hold a conversation with Aric Jorgan without either of them shouting at each other. Korol supposed that was good.

On top of that, she learned fast. She was sent on missions, alone or with a partner from her squad and she learned just how important this bomb was. Korol shivered at the thought of what such weapon could do and she hoped it would never fall into the wrong hands. The Empire could not be trusted with power like this. 

The day they located the ZR-57 should’ve been one of the greatest days of her career. In a way, it was, at least considering her promotion. But for now, she was just a young soldier walking into a separatist base with nothing but a big gun and Aric Jorgan’s voice in her ear. He kept the comm line open and she was glad about it. They weren’t always on the best of terms but it felt good to have a familiar voice. Especially now that her squad was missing.

Korol walked forward, taking out a scout droid before it could sound any alarm. She had taken the first speeder after they had gotten the news and she just hoped she wasn’t too late. What if the separatists had overwhelmed them? What if there really was an alliance with the Empire as rumours said?

“You are approaching the ZR, sergeant.”

“Affirmative.” It had bothered her that he was able to trace her steps. Now, a few weeks into this mission, she didn’t mind. It just meant she wouldn’t get lost like her squad. Korol spit out a few curses and ducked behind a crate as imperial soldiers suddenly opened fire. So the rumours were true after all. 

“Are you alright?”, she heard Jorgan, almost concerned, but she ignored him for now. Instead, she got her weapon ready and started firing. 

There was something beautiful about the way snipers worked. Methodically taking out target after target, it was an impressive skill. She still preferred her assault cannon – aiming didn’t matter when you could just blast everything within a wide radius. 

“I’m fine, lieutenant,” she finally stated after taking care of the enemies. She might have gained a few bruises and burns but all in all, she felt good. “Imperials were guarding the bomb.”

His curses were even more colourful than her own. She allowed herself a grin and set to work. This bomb had to be deactivated and thankfully, Jorgan calmed down enough to guide her through it. This hadn’t been part of her training, at least not for a weapon like the ZR-57.

“We have a possible location for Havoc Squad,” he told her once it was done. Hope filled her heart and she nodded though they had no holo running. “It’s close to your position, I’m sending you the coordinates now.”

“Affirmative.” If they were in danger, she would help them. If not, they could all go home and relax. The job was done, somebody might even offer them alcohol to celebrate. Korol walked through a maze of corridors, avoiding separatist forces as best as she could. She still had to kill many of them.

And then, when she finally arrived at the scene, all fell apart. She walked through it as if stuck in a trance or a nightmare, fighting more imperials while her comrades deserted. She still couldn’t believe it. They had sworn to protect the Republic and now they were running to the Empire? Even after killing her enemies, Korol just stood there, watching the sky as reality started hitting her. Nothing good would come of this.

Instead of attending a victory party, she allowed herself a moment of rest in her quarters. There were other bunks but now that her squad had deserted, she was the only one. Korol buried her face in her hands, taking deeps breaths until she heard someone approach. Even the fact that she was now the lieutenant and Jorgan the sergeant didn’t help. She would lead Havoc Squad and she would succeed because failure was not an option. She still didn’t feel prepared for it. 

“The shuttle is ready.” Jorgan stood stiffly, not happy with his demotion. Korol though that wasn’t fair, he deserved a higher rank than he had. They were the only remains of a legendary squad and they would rebuild it. She was sure of it.


End file.
